Scarlet Crusade
The Scarlet Crusade is a religious organization, founded by Lordaeron's remaining nobility and clergy. Dedicated to the eradication of the undead, the Crusade is a major adversary of the Forsaken. The Scarlet Crusade maintained several bastions throughout Lordaeron, namely the Scarlet Monastery, and until the rise of the Argent Crusade, Hearthglen, Tyr's Hand, the fortified cathedral of Stratholme, and several smaller camps and watchtowers spread throughout the North. After Arthas and his Death Knights lay siege to the Scarlet Enclave, many Crusaders sailed with High General Abbendis to Northrend, later becoming the Scarlet Onslaught. Since the fall of the Lich King, the Scarlet Crusade has been utterly decimated, leaving its few remaining members scattered throughout the Northern continent of Lordaeron. History The elder Abbendis and Isillien felt that although they had a good base, they really needed to attack the Scourge where they were the thickest: in the Eastern Plaguelands. Isillien took on the title of Grand Inquisitor, while the elder Abbendis led the majority of the forces to Tyr’s Hand in the east to strike at Stratholme. As they established their bases and took in many more warriors, they destroyed any undead they found. During an assault on Stratholme, however, High General Abbendis was mortally wounded by the undead and died in his daughter's arms. Worse still, Saiden Dathrohan became separated and lost during the assault. They were overjoyed when Dathrohan reappeared, but during his absence he had been captured, killed, and possessed by the dreadlord Balnazzar. Balnazzar began manipulating the organization to serve his own ends. However, he needed to remove a serious threat to himself: Alexandros Mograine and the Ashbringer. As Saiden Dathrohan, he started talking a lot with Alexandros's son Renault, playing on his desire for approval and recognition, until he eventually managed to convince him to betray his father. Renault led his father and High Inquisitor Fairbanks into Stratholme, where they were set upon by the Scourge. Though Alexandros fought bravely, and many undead fell before his blade, he eventually dropped the Ashbringer, which Renault used to stab his father through the back before fleeing. Fairbanks, who had been buried beneath the undead bodies and thought slain, eventually returned to the Scarlet Monastery and tried to tell the others what had happened. Saiden Dathrohan claimed he had been tainted by the undead, and he was executed. However, there were those who believed that their comrades had fallen from their once-noble purpose, and left to form their own order, the Argent Dawn. Those that remained formally named themselves the Scarlet Crusade. One day, Renault's younger brother Darion, who had joined the Argent Dawn, came walking into the chapel of the Scarlet Monastery. Renault initially assumed he had come to join the Scarlet Crusade, until he saw what he was carrying: the Ashbringer. Furious, he began to savagely beat Darion, not noticing that a strange shadow was emerging from the blade. The shadow coalesced into the form of Alexandros Mograine and, after accusing his son of betrayal and murder, killed him. Darion took the Ashbringer and left, and soon after Taelan Fordring was appointed Highlord of the Scarlet Crusade. Dealings With Wolf's Crossing Prior to being Crowned the 5th King of Wolf's Crossing, Jon Blackmorn had been one of Lordaeron's great peers, and when the Scarlet Crusade was formed by many of Terenas' former courtiers and Clergy, he felt there was no other course but to support a cause he deemed righteous. In the first three years of the Crusade's existence, more than twenty chests of gold, hundreds of crates of food, and more than sixty Castle-forged swords were taken from Wolf's Crossing to the Scarlet Monastery in Tirisfal, and to the city of Hearthglen. When dignitaries from the Crusade visited Castle Blackmorn, they were often received by Jon's eldest daughter, Princess Lorrain, who convinced him that Rosegarde should serve as a bastion for the Crusade in Wolf's Crossing. The man she would later mary was none other than Tytos Blackvale, (Then Sir Tytos) a renowned paladin trainer and hero of the second war. King Jon's younger brother, Jhorin Blackmorn also actively fought beside the Scarlet Crusaders in Hearthglen. The Downfall of the Scarlet Crusade There was, however, one region of the Eastern Plaguelands which had been remarkably untouched by the plague that had despoiled the remainder of Northern Lordaeron. This region was appropriately known as the Scarlet Enclave, consisting of the Scarlet capital of Tyr's Hand and the towns of Havenshire and New Avalon. These towns came under the protection of the Crusade forces stationed in Tyr's Hand, led by High General Brigitte Abbendis--the last survivor of the Crusade's original founders. All that changed with the arrival of Acherus in the skies above the Enclave. In short order, the Scourge had established a base camp in the Ebon Hold's shadow and began their campaign of destruction. As the death knights of Acherus began to march on Havenshire, Abbendis claimed to receive visions from the Light, instructing her to take the most faithful of her troops and journey to Northrend. This became known among the Scarlet troops as the "Crimson Dawn", a revival of the Crusade and its "holy mission". The Fall of the Scarlet Enclave By that point, the death knights had laid waste to Havenshire and were now seeking to find out more about this "Crimson Dawn" mentioned in New Avalon's registry, taken from the town hall after they murdered New Avalon's Mayor Quimby. They discovered that a courier had been sent from Hearthglen by High Commander Galvar Pureblood, informing Abbendis that an army of Crusaders from Hearthglen and Tirisfal were being assembled to reinforce the Enclave and battle the forces of Acherus. One of the death knights, disguised as the courier (having murdered the real courier, taking his clothing and Pureblood's message), delivered the message to Abbendis. Realizing that the Plaguelands were lost, Abbendis ordered "the courier" to return to Pureblood, inform him to turn his armies around and prepare for the journey to Northrend. She gave "the courier" a copy of her diary, claiming it would explain everything. It was at this point that she declared that the Scarlet Crusade was no more - that they were now the Scarlet Onslaught. The message never reached Pureblood, and his forces were annihilated by the Scourge as a result. With the combined army marching to their doom, High General Abbendis boarded her flagship, the Sinner's Folly, and set sail for Northrend, leaving the Crusade to its fate. Decline The Upper Echelon has been completely destroyed, while the Lower Echelon has been forced to go into hiding. With the deaths of the majority of the leadership, it remains to be seen who will lead what is left of the Crusade. Refuge In Wolf's Crossing Many members of the lower echelon were given sanctuary at Rosegarde by Tytos Blackvale, and at Castle Blackmorn on the orders of Darion Blackmorn. While both the Alliance and Horde view the Scarlet Crusade as a band of murderous zealots, the Blackmorns of Wolf's Crossing would not judge their stalwart allies for the atrocities committed while the Crusade was manipulated by a Dreadlord. Category:Scarlet Crusade Category:Organizations Category:Kingdom of Lordaeron